Monday, December 31, 2012

As 2012 comes to a close, it’s always fun to look back on
what I partook in.I keep a pretty
thorough calendar, so the following is culled from glancing through my records
of the past 12 months (this is what consumes time on a boring flight across the
country).Here’s a sampling of
what I was involved with this year…

WORK (It’s not so
much a job as it is “a calling”):

7,130 needy third world children sponsored through 32 radio
campaigns our

Radio
Department at Compassion International organized

Represents approximately $16.4 million over the next 5 years
for good health, education,

nutrition,
clothing, Spiritual encouragement, and opportunities for these kids

13 radio marathons hosted in different cities

4 additional radio interviews regarding Compassion’s
outreach

5 conventions/retreats

4 overseas trips where I was group leader (Bangladesh,
Haiti, Guatemala, and Colombia)

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Adapted from a chapter
in Tony Campolo’s book, Let Me Tell You
a Story: Life Lessons from unexpected Places and Unlikely People:

A schoolteacher served students from several grades in a
small one room schoolhouse in upstate New York, including one child who was
euphemistically referred to as “special.”That particular little boy was what we might call “slow.”

When Christmas season came, the teacher decided to put on a
Christmas pageant, and the special needs boy wanted to have a part in it.He didn’t just want to stand around on
the stage; he wanted to have a speaking part.Part of the presentation was a dramatic interpretation of
the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. They all knew that he could not remember lines
very well, but they came up with what seemed like a viable solution to the
problem.They told him that he
could be in innkeeper.When Mary
and Joseph knocked on the door of the inn, he was to open it and say, “No
room!”Mary would then plead with
him further, and when she finished her lines he was to say again, “No room!”
and close the door.

They thought he could handle this, but just to make sure,
they appointed someone to stand near him behind the door and poke him at the
proper time and whisper the right words in his ear, should he forget them.Rehearsals went fine, and all were
excited about a good presentation.

The night of the Christmas pageant all seemed to be moving
well until Mary and Joseph got to the inn door.Mary knocked.When our little friend opened the door he said what was expected of him:
“No room!”

Mary responded, “But , sir, it’s cold.Have you no place at all where we can
stay?It’s freezing and I am
sick.I’m going to have a baby,
and unless you help us, my baby will be born in the cold, cold night.”

The boy just stood there and said nothing.Mary looked at him and nodded her head
as if to say Go ahead, it’s your turn.There was another long pause.The prompter nudged him and whispered,
“No room!Say ‘No room!’”

The little guy then turned to the prompter and said, “I know
what I’m supposed to say…but I’ve been thinking.”He then looked at Mary and said “…she can have my room,” and
then he opened the door wide for her and Joseph.

To some, loving comes easily and almost without thinking.
The rest of us must be more deliberate.Let us pray that we are open to the leading of the spirit by being more
responsive to the needs of others as they come to us.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

My friend, Lynn Basler Grassmeyer, just published this editorial in the Sat. Dec. 15 edition of Nashville's daily newspaper, The Tennessean:

“Help! Pray for us. We won’t make it this time!” Fifteen-year-old Raneen, an International School student in Gaza, said as Israeli “Operation Pillar of Defense” began.

The students’ pleas intensified throughout the eight-day assault, with shelling from air and sea. While Israel claimed retaliation for “an unacceptable security threat,” The New York Times called the attack a “lopsided battle between this impoverished, intensely crowded and hemmed-in enclave and its militarily mighty neighbor to the north.”

Gaza war news, like other news, played out on Facebook as Raneen’s classmates held their thread of communication with the world. Their mentor and former teacher Linda Todd Gharib forwarded the messages to us in Nashville. And as we prayed, miraculous updates came: “Bombs dropped around us, but we are not hit!”

Writer Graham Peebles reports that 1,477 Palestinian children have been killed since 2000, a level of carnage that contradicts Israel’s claims of “millimetric accuracy.”

During “Pillar of Defense,” 30 schools were damaged, including Raneen’s. Homes, mosques and a church were demolished. Raneen’s school was bombed back in 2008 as well. Chemical weapons, including white phosphorus, brought death and destruction to Gaza during “Operation Cast Lead.”

Retired Col. Ann Wright and Kathy Kelly, part of an emergency delegation of peace activists visiting Gaza days after the recent invasion, met the parents of 8-year-old Fares, decapitated by shrapnel as he slept. His father told Kelly, “He was the life of the house.”

Col. Wright notes, “We’ve seen the devastating destructiveness of Israel’s high-tech weaponry, most of it supplied by the U.S. at American taxpayers’ expense.”

The U.N. notes that the Israeli Defense Force sends warnings to civilians ahead of bombings, but “civilian losses are massive.” Most Gazans never receive such “courtesy calls.” If they did, where would they run?

Completely isolated, Gazans have no freedom of movement, even in the West Bank, where they have family. Hanna Massad, pastor of the Gaza Baptist Church, had to choose between his congregation in Gaza and his wife in the West Bank. He gave up his church and cannot return. Once bustling with coastal hotels and cafes, this forlorn strip now hosts bombed-out silhouettes.

While weapons smuggling occupies media attention, the notorious tunnels are Gaza’s lifeline to essential goods that Israel prohibits by normal routes. Two-thirds of consumer goods reach Gaza via tunnels, which also provide scarce jobs. Many workers meet injury or death in collapses, bombings and gassings.

Raneen’s story has meaning for us here in Nashville. When Christian leaders, musicians and politicians claim blind loyalty to Israel despite documented human rights abuses and international law violations, they spread ignorance and do great harm. Recently, 15 outstanding church leaders asked Congress to investigate Israel’s abuses and halt military aid.

As we near Christmas, Bethlehem’s beloved Rev. Alex Awad urges Western churches to cultivate peace and pursue justice, recalling that God’s kingdom is neither racial nor territorial: “When the angels in the sky over Bethlehem declared ‘peace on Earth,’ they were not far from Jerusalem or Gaza City. ... When we draw near to these places with compassion and understanding, there will be peace.”

Lynn Grassmeyer is a local realty agent and humanitarian with Semitic roots.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Montana is called “Big Sky Country” and it is quite apt for
that state and the rest of the rambling Great Plains of the U.S. and
Canada.Without the distractions of
gleaming buildings, cell towers, high tension power lines, blaring signage, and
swarming arteries jammed with garish SUV’s and hulking trucks cluttering my
immediate view at ground level it’s much easier to be overtaken with the
immensity of what is above me.

How I enjoy traversing out to an obscure spot on the map,
scaling an unnamed hump, and soaking in a 360 degree unobstructed view.But it’s usually not the terrestrial that
wows me—it’s the ever-changing terra firma that dominates the scene.

And if you hear the wind blow

The breeze can catch your eye

And if you feel the sunlight

Straight from the sky

Away from the noise and the madness

All you have to do is pray

(Glass Harp, “Look in the
Sky,” Glass Harp, 1970)

Early on a summer day in remote Nebraska the horizons are an
opaque blue that grow to deeper azure as your eyes ascend higher. It is so
gradual and yet so obvious.Lying still
on my back, I watch patiently as time progresses.Early on, the canopy is crystal clear, but as
the day unfolds the moisture begins to accumulate, and wisps evolve into clouds,
and then often dissipate for no discernable reason.It’s as if an invisible artist moistens a
canvas then decides to wipe clean what was just painted.

These ever-changing puffs seem to move at a relaxed pace in
the morning.One the size of a small
county takes the shape of a hand, with fingers extending for miles.But within 20 minutes it simply evaporates
into nothingness, except for the tip of the ring finger.From whence do they come…and where do they
go?

The immensity of it is so very good for my soul. Contrary to
what I would often think, being made to feel small by the sweep of God’s
workmanship—even the most temporal—gives me much needed perspective.

The sunshine in mountains sometimes lost

the river can disregard the cost

and melt in the sky warmth when you die

were we ever warmer on that day a million miles away

we seemed from all of eternity

(Yes, “South Side of the Sky,”
Fragile, 1973)

I recall in South Dakota seeing every type of cloud
imaginable in just one scene.Hazy
billows to the north with little broods of baby puffs in tow. To the east were
celestial saucers interspersed with serrated cotton-like feathers that were
becoming heavy and gray on their underside.To the southeast was a heavenly sea of rippling waves moving towards
some undetermined shore.Beneath, it
cast shadows that skimmed across the vast fields like gossamer sheets.

To the south was a mass that resembled the underside of a
gaseous crab treading water…snuggling low as if trying to hatch. I saw a
quarter of a rainbow glistening beneath an already misting cloud.It was that time late in each day where the
rain often falls in violent displays.

To the northwest were pulsating amoeba-like globules with a
singular orb glowing from within.The
sun works in concert with these heavenly hordes to create the most amazing
non-stop dramas over our heads if we would just take the time to look up. As I
craned my neck backwards I saw cotton tufts dashing by whose bottoms were
flattened evenly across an unseen barometric glass ceiling less than a mile
above me.

But it was to the west where the real show was
beginning.Aeriform battalions were
marshalling forces for a late-afternoon siege…seemingly in ordered cadence and
on the march.They were going to clash
with a Gibraltar-like thunderhead mushrooming in the southwest. Between the two
combatants the open air was being closed off, with sunlight smearing the
edges.Virgas were beginning to sweep
downward like tentacles from a jellyfish. Lightning shards crackled in the distance.

The clouds prepare for battle

In the dark and brooding silence

Bruised and sullen storm clouds

Have the light of day obscured

Looming low and ominous

In twilight premature

Thunderheads are rumbling

In a distant overture...

Just when it appeared that they had completely smothered any
solar intervention, suddenly spectacular radiating pillars perhaps forty miles
long burst through a crevasse creating a Jacob’s Ladder that would put even the
most powerful photon torpedoes in Gene Rodenberry’s imagination to shame.

All at once, the clouds are parted

Light streams down in bright unbroken beams...

Follow men's eyes as they look to the skies

The shifting shafts of shining weave the fabric of their dreams...

(Rush, “Jacob’s Ladder,” Permanent Waves, 1981)

But those late day melees with all the accompanying salvos
rolling and reverberating across the flatlands are often swept away in mere
moments…and after the rain dampens the heat that has built throughout the day,
all that atmospheric bombast disperses before me over the course of the next
hour.The sky is once again cleansed…and
so is my cluttered heart.

It’s all so lofty, in the truest sense of the word.It’s ethereal…and yet deeply resonates within
me.In all the non-stop energy of the
wild blue yonder, I sense a profound purposefulness.Practicality is addressed through the cycles
of wind, rain, and sun.But the soul is
also replenished by the vaporous vitality of it all…and the sneak peak at
what’s to come once I’m finally on the other side.

You made the climb up to the crest
Seeing it all ahead of the rest
And your expression showed the wonder of the place
Looking westward with the sunlight on your face

In the wide-open sweet someday
Climbing over the ridge top to finally see the view
All of us go there alone
Crossing over to home
In the vista
The wide-open sweet someday
The wide open vista

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Along with all of the
enthusiastic feedback from readers on Amazon.com about my book, Embracing the Gray: A Wing, A Prayer, and A
Doubter’s Resolve, there have also been many positive reviews from other
writers.Here are some of those
reflections…

Embracing the Gray provides a description
of someone who has shied away from simplistic Christianity. Mark Hollingsworth carries
us through his spiritual highs and lows as he relates his journey towards a
mature faith and lifestyle. Those of us who know next to nothing about the
contemporary music scene can learn much about the messages of what a younger
generation devours. Mark understands this world, and artists he has known and
been influenced by help give poetic weight as we read through this memoir. He
is an excellent storyteller, but the reader should not think that Mark’s
stories are only told to entertain. They have layered meanings and lead to
thoughtful reflections. Embracing the
Gray gets two enthusiastic thumbs up from me.

-Tony
Campolo (author of 37 books, world-renowned speaker)

I have known Mark for quite a few years now and his
interest and sensitivity have always impressed me. However, Embracing the Gray goes much deeper into
the waters of this brave heart. Mark has a communicational style that is both
conversational and poetic; a union of the heart and mind that is at once
compelling, challenging and inspirational. I highly recommend the book and the
man.

Check out the book, Embracing the Gray, by long-time friend Mark
Hollingsworth—all-around world-saver and critical figure in the history of
spiritual music. We traveled some of the same spiritual search together. I
highly endorse it.

Listening and Telling. We all have a story; but not all of us have
paid much care or attention to it. Mark Hollingsworth has listened to his story
well, and he has given us the gift of sharing what he's heard. Humorous.
Poignant. Hopeful. Riddled with sorrow in some places and drenching with joy in
others, Embracing the Gray is well
worth your time.

The glorious paradox of no-nonsense faith. Anyone
who has spent a few hours around Mark Hollingsworth knows his conversational
references to culture, politics, the Good Book and the good fight span a really
broad horizon. Hollingsworth has also led a truly fascinating life, and has the
wit and word-smithing at his disposal to make his journey into a really
entertaining read. Embracing the Gray
is a delightful, sometimes dizzying account of Mark's adventures that
demonstrates his gifts as a cultural commentator and a writer worth reading.
Hollingsworth pulls no punches as he rolls through episodes of his life in the
music industry and ministry to the poor, rubbing shoulders with rock royalty
and desperately at-risk children, and coming of age between Vietnam and Van
Halen. Having said all that, I've barely scratched the surface of the
remarkable range of subjects Hollingsworth addresses with unflinching honesty--
and then draws a beeline to his faith, and how all that experience helped
develop him into a truly authentic, thoughtful Jesus-follower. As pastor of a
rowdy bunch of mostly Millennials (roughly 18-30 years of age), I am highly
recommending Embracing the Gray to
them because it provides them a wonderful tool: an example of how to think
about faith, as opposed to simply what to think about faith. And to my Boomer
contemporaries? Buy it for yourself. If you're a fan of Jesus, contemporary
music, social action, Petra, Rush (the group; maybe not Limbaugh for this
book), or needing to know that someone else has been through the pain of
helping their parents shed the mortal coil with love and dignity, read this
book. Then do your grown kids a favor and give it to them to read. (If you're
sensitive to salty language, be warned that it makes an occasional appearance
in this book. Thus the encouragement to make it available to your "grown
children." But please, put some U2 on in the background and read it
anyway. You really won't regret it.)

Simply stunning. Honestly, Mark's
life runs parallel to the film "Almost Famous," only it's more
exciting. I won't ruin any of the surprises, but I guarantee you'll have
several moments where you say to yourself "I can't believe all this
happened to one person."The
only book I've ever read with a meeting with U2, and an incident with a
drunken, suicidal gunman live just pages apart. And both are true. Loved it!

The most engaging,
hilarious, gut-wrenching, and inspiring book I've read in a long time. Thanks!

-Zach Bevill (songwriter, lead singer,
guitarist for The Farewell Drifters)

What a wonderful piece of writing! You are a GREAT writer,
Bro! Funny, inspiring, thought provoking,
challenging...these are all words I would use to describe this book. I feel
enriched after reading it. I laughed out loud on a few of those stories! I hope this is just
the first of many. I think it will sell a ton.Thank you!

-Bob Hartman (primary songwriter, and
lead guitarist for Petra)

I have known Mark for a few years and
have read his blog regularly in that time. I have seen and experienced first
hand his own willingness to live his faith in an open, honest way, including
not just the good times, but the hard questions and difficult circumstances. If
you are looking for happy-go-lucky, pat on the back, feel-good themed book, you
may want to pick up one of those fluff books. If, however, you want a book that
will affirm your own struggles, is easy to read, and at the same time
challenges you to take seriously the concepts of God, spirituality and help you
in times where you may feel all alone, I couldn't recommend anything as much as
Embracing the Gray. Mark writes from
a place of honesty that many of us could learn from; his life has been an
example; his words will inspire and challenge.

-Mike Furches (author of The Keystone Kid, and columnist for HollywoodJesus.com)

This
book is some very beautiful fruit from some very tough seasons in Hollingsworth’s
life.-Kim Thomas (author of Living in the Sacred Now, Finding Your Way

Through
Grief,
and Even God Rested)

A soulful memoir. This
is a bold first hand account of the life (thus far!) of Christian music manager
and non-profit marketing luminary Mark Hollingsworth. His 3+ decades traveling
the globe with performers, friends, and even a few strangers leave a wake of
wild stories and one-of-a-kind exchanges. Each chapter explores the soul of a
man wrestling with deep doubts, yet also gnawing convictions. In particular,
his account of time spent with the young U2 harmonizes book-long themes of
tattered, yet intact faith, parsed against diamond-splitting honesty. A read
that will inspire thought, and be a reminder of grace.-Geoff Little (author of Summers)

Mark and I both kind of march to the beat
of our own funky drum kit--which is why I'm excited to promote his new book: Embracing the Gray. Mark is one of those
admirable, honest Christians who thinks with his heart and his funny bone both
engaged and he's one heck of a great writer! You don't wanna miss this one!-Paul Johnson (Dove Award winning
composer, producer, artist)

I read Embracing
the Gray and what a lovely trip the read turned out to be! Not
only is Mark a keen observer of every person he has ever met,
but with great honesty he opens himself up to observation,
too. Mark's insightful use of the lyrics of songs to which this
seventy- something lady had never paid attention opened a window into the realm
of 'young' music and to a place that happened long after I was
grown up. Finally, I've always known that my world
was too black and white (just ask my kids!) and I am very grateful for
this sometimes painful yet often joyously lighthearted reminder to embrace,
not just tolerate what is, and may well remain, quite gray. I very much loved Embracing the Gray.

Mark Hollingsworth has written an awesome book titled Embracing the Gray. It's got wonderful
stories about his meetings with U2, Kerry Livgren (Kansas) and his life's
journey. Honestly, I couldn't put it down and I highly recommend it.

-Rick Altizer (songwriter, recording
artist, producer)

On
a lazy American Thanksgiving I read through Mark Hollingsworth's EMBRACING THE GRAY and was compelled by
the frank honesty that he brought to both his writing and his spiritual
journey. There is something wonderfully liberating in coming to grips with our
humanness while we still attempt to connect with the Almighty. I resonated most
fully with

Mark
on this point, that somewhere in his early twenties he found it necessary to
lay aside all pretense and simply be honest about his faith (or, at times, lack
thereof). I read somewhere that stories are equipment for living, and I am
appreciative that Mark has laid out some of his here. Everyone's life contains
scripture, a sacred text of their interaction with the Almighty, whether they
be conscious of it or not. And Mark's story recounts the full embrace of life's
experiences up against the backdrop of a searching soul desperate to make sense
of the sometimes elusive fingerprints of grace.

Amazing
stories from one of my true heroes.-John Thompson (author of Raised by Wolves, and editor of True

Tunes magazine)

I read the whole
book in one sitting. It is fabulous. Meaty stuff. Funny stuff. Encouraging
stuff. Mark openly wrestles with so many things that are common to one seeking
a relationship with the Creator. My take away was to stay in the Eternal Now
with the Ever Present One.

-Pam Mark Hall
(songwriter, recording artist)

Love this book! Mark
has written a touching and at times hysterical memoir. In particular though,
the account of his brother's troubled relationship with his family was quite
moving. These are stories of love, faith, loss, and joy that only a writer as
adept and honest as Mark could make so three dimensional as to jump off the
page. Well worth your time!

-Rick Elias (songwriter,
recording artist, producer)

I continue to be
humbled by the response the book is generating.If you have read it and wish to correspond with me, I always
interact with any communiqués.You can also peruse many reader reviews (97% are Five Stars) at:

About Me

Described as a renaissance man, Mark A. Hollingsworth considers himself a citizen of the world. He has traveled to forty-nine countries as a manager of rock bands and an advocate for the poor in the developing world. He has been published in two dozen magazines ranging from Billboard to National Lampoon, and his blog has had over 50,000 readers in the past four years. Mark resides in Nashville, Tennessee.
Mark's Favorite Blogs:
http://notjusttalk.tumblr.com/